Safe Within My Memories
by chloe x
Summary: And yet, this is not the ending of such a relationship. This is merely the beginning. And as the puddle of sunlight on the lonely meadow shrinks into nothing, across the country, their story is waking up and struggling on. AU BrookeLucas.
1. Prologue

Title ; Safe Within My Memories

Summary ; And yet, this is not the ending of such a relationship. This is merely the beginning. And as the puddle of sunlight on the lonely meadow shrinks into nothing, across the country, their story is waking up and struggling on. AU BrookeLucas.

Major Pairing(s) ; Brooke Davis & Lucas Scott

Rating ; I'm going to say K+

Author's Note ; It's been a looong time since I wrote this prologue, but I've finally given in and am ready to post it, lmao. I may not have started writing it at that time, but it was actually inspired almost a year ago. Ahem. Haha, says a lot about me, doesn't it? Lol, well, I really hope you guys enjoy.

With that said, I'd like to thank the faaabulous **Ellie** for being a faaabulous beta. I don't know what I would do if she didn't keep volunteering to beta for me! Haha, and (with the help of Emmy, of course) she did push me to post this, so if any of you turn out to like this, you know who to thank. Haha, thank you so much, Ellie! love you(: Also, **Emmy **because I've ranted so much about this fic to her and she's been amazing. She pretty much _pwns_. No, really, she does deserve credit on a major part of this fic, but more on that later. Haha, and she was also persistent in forcing me to post this. ILY. And **Alli**, too, because I miss her and her fics! Hehe, and I do remember that I've talked to her before a lot about this fic, though and even though it was a long time ago, back when I was still brainstorming, anndd I can't remember what exactly I talked about, I'm sure I talked a lot. Haha. Thanks hun. & thanks to **everybody else who contributed** in any way, and of course, thank you **readers**.

So let's get on with the story! Hope you guys enjoy.

Disclaimor ; I don't own anything. One Tree Hill belongs to Mark Schwahn and what a great job he's doing with it. rollseyes I don't own the lyrics in this chapter. That's from Sting. They're probably the ones your most familiar with, and their version is the one I listen to most of the time, but the one that inspired this story was actually the one by Eva Cassidy. I have no idea who actually owns the lyrics, but it's not me. Haha.

**Prologue:**

_You'll remember me when the west wind moves_

_Among the fields of barley_

_You can tell the sun in his jealous sky_

_When we walked in fields of gold_

The yellow-green grass always sways with the wind. The sunlight from the west always spills across the yellow-green grass. The summer weather is always warm, but breezy, the blue, blue sky void of clouds. And the never-ending meadow stands alone, yet calm as day.

The meadow spans across a good twenty acres of land in a small town in California, and is coincidentally situated right in between the two neighborhoods of the grandparents' of both Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott. The two young grandchildren met when they were only infants on this very meadow one fateful summer some fourteen years ago. Their grandparents' steady friendship with each other had Brooke and Lucas becoming fast friends during their long, annual summer visits.

Their story is classic. A childhood friendship strong enough to use each other as an escape from the world, but also a friendship unvisited for over three years. A friendship of both Lucas and Brooke's past, and yet a friendship never forgotten. It was no dramatic fight that had the two teenagers going their separate ways, but what often brought old friendships to the very back of one's mind: they grew up, and grew busy. They drifted away from each other. As high school began, summer classes and trips were scheduled, movies and parties entertained them enough, and visits to their grandparents' place became less frequent and much more brief than before. On most days, they would wonder if the other were in town, but the question left their minds before it could even be asked out loud.

And yet, this is not the ending of such a relationship. This is merely the beginning. And as the puddle of sunlight on the lonely meadow shrinks into nothing, across the country, their story is waking up and struggling on.

_Many years have passed since those summer days_

_Among the fields of barley_

_See the children run as the sun goes down_

_As you lie in fields of gold_

The actual chapters will be longer, lol. Please leave a review! I'd love you forever.

x Chloe


	2. Crush

**Author's Note:**

Well, sadly, this chapter has been written for quite awhile now and sitting untouched in an abandoned folder on my desktop. However, semester one of hell hole has at last ended and it's about time I updated.

Thanks so much of course to everybody who reviewed. I was super glad to have realized I got around 20 reviews from the two sites I've posted this at(: Keep them up, yes?(:

Thank you to Ellie for beta'ing this, what, a million and some months ago? and for putting up with me and my "oh my gosh, please inspire me" IMs. She's awesome, yeah? And to Emmy, of course, for putting up with my rants as well, and also for giving me that little extra push we all need so much.

So hopefully you all enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review, please!(:

**Chapter 1: **Crush

_You fall away from your past_

_But it's following you_

_You fall away from your past_

_But it's following you_

_Tree Hill, North Carolina_

There's something about the first day of school that gets to Brooke Davis. She loves the excited buzz in the air as she catches up with friends she hadn't seen too often over the summer. She loves the refreshing smell and sight of new clothes and styles all around her and she loves to hear and spread gossip about what happened over the long summer.

"Peyton," Brooke calls, catching up with her best friend and linking arms with her. "Oh my gosh, have you seen Nathan's end-of-the-summer tan? God, a summer in California at basketball camp does _wonders_," she sighs dreamily.

The blonde raises an eyebrow. "Brooke, I hope you know that's our best friend you're talking about," she giggles.

A smirk is set on Brooke's face as she says, "No, sweetie, Nathan is _my_ best friend. He's _your_ to-be reinstated boy toy."

Peyton keeps her eyebrow raised, shoving her best friend playfully. "Um, no," she crosses her arms. "Brooke Penelope, a) you cannot reinstate men, especially not Nathan Scott, and b) I wouldn't reinstate him even if I could. We've been broken up for months now, because our relationship meant nothing and will never mean anything. We were bored, hooked up, and that's all. Things are much easier now that we're all friends. Just because he looks really hot today," she aims a short glare toward Nathan and his group of friends walking nearby, as if he were to be blamed for his God-given features, "doesn't mean I want to get back together with him," she finishes, fixing her glare to focus at Brooke.

"Sawyer, I was just kidding," Brooke laughs, "but it's nice to know how much you have to say on that matter."

Peyton's lips are sealed shut as she forces a classic eye roll. "Whatever," she pouts.

Brooke grins triumphantly. "Uh-huh," she teases, letting her silky brunette hair blow behind her, the sunlight catching the red tint.

---x---

Across the courtyard, Lucas Scott walks alongside his half-brother and new friends. He's slightly nervous. It is, after all, his first day at Tree Hill High, and he wants to make a good impression. He feels childish for being like this; he's hardly ever shy these days, but he figures anybody else would be the same in his position.

He's barely paying any attention to the people walking beside him. His feet follow theirs and he nods as Nathan talks to him. He's guilty of not listening to what his half-brother has to say, of course, especially since it's been so long since they've seen each other. Nathan and Lucas share the same father, but two different mothers. Still, Lucas hardly ever sees his dad and his dad's "other" family. Ironically, the two families get along surprisingly well, but they had lived on separate sides of the country for most of their lives. Until now, of course.

Lucas was hesitant about the move at first. He had so many friends at his old school. He knows he had nothing to worry about, though; he can easily make new friends. But at the same time, he's seen new kids come and go, and he wonders how his life will unravel in Tree Hill.

He blinks, and when he's brought back to earth, a familiar face catches his eye. She's laughing and her brunette hair is flying all around her as she playfully flings her arms around the blonde girl beside her. Her smile is contagious and stands out among all others. "Brooke?" he asks, more to himself than to her.

She turns around, anyway, still smiling from her conversation with the blonde. Her head cocks to the side and her eyebrows crinkle. A surprised smile greets the boy walking toward her. "Oh, my gosh! Lucas!" she squeals, leaning forward and finding herself in an awkward hug. When she pulls back, she smiles again. He's grown a lot the past few years.

His face has matured and he's lost all of his baby fat she had always loved teasing him about. He's much taller and his hair is shorter than the uncombed mess he used to sport. He's wearing a light blue shirt, matched with a simple pair of jeans.

"What…" her voice trails off. "What are you doing here?" she tries again, confused.

He shrugs mysteriously. "It was time for a change," he says dismissively. "My mom and I are staying with my half-brother until we find a permanent place to stay." Brooke waits for him to continue, but he only nods toward Nathan.

"Nathan?" Brooke asks, raising her eyebrow at her friend in question. "Nathan's your half-brother?" she tries hard not to laugh. "No way," she almost chokes.

Lucas gives her a funny look as Nathan jumps into the conversation, finally able to put one and one together. "Wait, do you two know each other?"

Brooke rolls her eyes impatiently. "I had no idea you were Nathan's brother," she turns her attention back to Lucas with a warm smile.

He laughs. "Well, it's not exactly something to boast about… our dad having a kid with two different women, I mean," he jokes.

She's not sure how to react to this, but she smiles anyway. A nudge from the girl beside her reminds her that Peyton's still next to her, along with Nathan and the rest of his typical jock friends. "Oh," she says, glancing toward Peyton. "Lucas, this is my best, best, best friend Peyton. Peyton, this is Lucas. We would hang out every time I went to my grandparent's," she explains quickly.

"Nice to meet you," Peyton offers, playfully sticking out her hand for him to shake.

He grins. "Oh, trust me, the pleasure's all mine," Lucas takes her hand and winks at her, a small smirk settled on his boyish face.

Brooke frowns slightly, suddenly aware of yet another change in the boy standing in front of her. He slips her a smile when he notices her eyes on him. She smiles shortly in return as the bell rings and they go their separate ways.

---x---

"So, this Lucas guy is hot," Peyton smirks as she slips into the empty seat beside Brooke. Peyton doesn't care that their Pre-Calculas teacher will be here and ready to start class any minute. She never has cared and she's never passed an opportunity to discuss cute new guys.

Brooke giggles, flushing. "Tell me about it. You have no idea how much cuter he is now than years ago," she admits.

Peyton raises an eyebrow. "You like him, don't you?" she immediately accuses.

Brooke rolls her eyes. "Peyt, this guy is like my childhood best friend—"

"Excuse me, but your childhood best friend is me," Peyton corrects her.

She rolls her eyes again and continues, ignoring her friend's comment. "So what if he's hot? There are certain boundaries you cannot cross when your friend has grandparents who are best friends with your own grandparents," Brooke explains, busying herself with taking out a notebook and waiting for the teacher to come. She absentmindedly stares into her backpack, letting her hair fall beside her; she hopes it covers her pink cheeks.

"Of course," she snickers, not believing her for a second. She's too quick to fall for Brooke Davis getting out a notebook before the teacher comes, let alone on the first day of school. (Peyton's surprised she even brought a notebook.) And she sure as hell isn't going to fall for this boundary bullshit.

Brooke plays with the hem of her halter-top. "It just wouldn't be right," she continues matter-of-factly. "It would be weird, wouldn't it? I mean, I hardly know the guy. From what I can see already, he's much more open than he used to be."

"Which is a good thing," Peyton prompts.

"Which is a horrible thing!" Brooke corrects her in an exasperated manner, giving up on the halter and waving her arms around frantically.

Peyton gives her a bored look. "Brooke, you've never liked quiet guys, anyway."

Brooke shoots her a deathly glare before softening. She's right, and this pisses Brooke off. "Well," she drawls out. "He is pretty cute, isn't he?"

---x---

"Hey," she calls out, picking up the pace to catch up with him and hoping she doesn't look like a _complete_ loser, wobbling on her cute, new pumps.

He turns his head and grins at her as she finally reaches him. She hopes he can't hear her panting. Although, it would fit the 'loser-chasing-him-in-pumps-that-she-doesn't-know-why-she-wore-to-school-anyway' image. _Because they're really cute, _she reminds herself before snapping back to earth and finding Tim Smith standing a foot away from her nose. She jumps back in alert. _Great, nobody warned Lucas to stay away from him_, she thought bitterly. Does she have to do _everything_ around here?

"Hey, Brooke," Tim smirks, giving her a knowing look. His eyes gradually slide from her face downwards.

"Go to hell, Dim," she shoots back. Brooke doesn't sympathize with him when he frowns and slowly slinks away; he must be used to rejection by now.

Brooke turns her attention back at Lucas with a small shrug as he laughs. "Not a fan of 'the Tim', then, I guess?"

She arches an eyebrow and falls into step with him. It doesn't take long for her to realize he's walking slowly just so she doesn't have to take two steps for every one of his, with these shoes, anyway. "Not even some desperate, horny, wannabe slut would open her legs for him," she snaps.

He grins. "Lesson learned," he jokes, holding his hands up and signalling his surrender. "No need to be a bitch about it."

She stops walking and looks at him for a long, dragged out moment before walking again. She's silent.

"That didn't offend you, did it?" he teases her.

Brooke lets out a loud laugh. "Of course not. I just didn't expect it coming from you and all."

He frowns. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she fakes a sympathetic pout. "That didn't offend you, did it?" she mocks him.

He smiles softly at her and casually drapes his arm around the girl beside him. "How've you been, Brooke?"

She shrugs dismissively. "I've been pretty good, considering. And yourself?"

He smirks. "Oh, just the usual… You know me."

_You left something undone_

_It's now your rerun_

_It's the one you can't erase_


End file.
